Anonymous declares ‘war’ against terrorists

Hackers claiming to be with the hacking collective, Anonymous, disrupted their first target in retaliation of the terror attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo yesterday (Jan 11).

The group has no clear base or leadership, but announced their act through a Twitter account by the handle of @OpCharlieHebdo, which posted a screenshot of French jihadist website, Ansar-alhaqq.net, after it was being hacked. Mashable reported that the website was down for more than an hour following Anonymous’ announcement. The site currently redirects to a search engine called Duck Duck Go.

In a video shared on its twitter page, a man wearing a Guy Fawkes mask said in an altered voice: “Anonymous has always fought for freedom of speech and freedom of the press. We will never stop. Attacking freedom of speech is attacking Anonymous.” Anonymous also addressed that they were “disgusted and shocked” by the attacks and they felt it their “responsibility to react”.  

This hack follows Anonymous’ announcement of hacking operation #OpCharlieHebdo on YouTube — a confrontation specifically directed towards al Qaeda and Islamic State extremists.

An earlier video posted on Friday features another figure in a Guy Fawkes mask. It perpetrated that “The anonymous of all the planet have decided to declare war on you terrorists. We will track you down to the last one, and will kill you.”

Sources: Mashable, Twitter